Civic Duty
by FlaFan
Summary: Station 51 handles a different kind of emergency on Election Day.
1. Chapter 1

**Civic Duty**

 _Station 51 handles a different kind of emergency on Election Day._

 _(By the way, postings of the chapters will likely go past Election Day. Hope to make this Election Day easier than the real thing!_ _)_

As Captain Hank Stanley drove to Station 51, he turned on classical music station KFAC. There was a light piece that he couldn't quite place.

"That was George Gershwin's 'Promenade," known as "Walking the Dog Music," because Gershwin wrote it for a scene in the musical "Shall We Dance" in which Fred Astaire walks a dog," said KFAC announcer Carl Princi when the piece finished. "A lot of people will be walking to the polls today to vote, and we'll hear from Dick Joy about that in a few minutes."

Hank chuckled. Guess the election was on everyone's mind. Well, almost everyone. He and his men had already voted by mail because of their very different civic duty today.

Hank enjoyed his time of solitude and serenity with the music - until he turned on East 223rd Street. As he approached the station, the serenity came to an end.

In front of Station 51 he saw two police cars with officers bordering a sign that said "VOTE TODAY." Across the street, many more signs were carried by people supporting their candidate or issue.

 _What in the world?_ Hank thought.

He turned into the driveway that led to the back of the station. A man in white shirtsleeves put up a hand to stop him, but a police officer came over. Fortunately, it was Vince Howard, who worked with them frequently. Vince put a hand on the other man's shoulder, nodded at him and waved Hank through.

Shaking his head, Hank drove to the back. Just as he parked and turned off the engine, he looked up to see his morning getting worse: Chief McConnike.

 _Oh boy,_ thought Hank as he got out of his car. "Good morning, Chief."

"Hank." McConnike put a hand on the captain's shoulder. "Sorry to inconvenience you and your men like this, but we've had something that came up spur of the moment."

"What's going on?" Hank asked, though he already knew the answer.

"A pipe broke at the Senior Center and flooded the whole area where people were supposed to vote," McConnike said.

Hank showed a grim smile. "And we're the backup," he said.

"Yes. It happened about three hours ago, so everyone just came over here," McConnike replied. "It was a quick setup."

"Should we move to another station, Chief?"

"No! Not at all," McConnike assured the other man. "The elections people are just taking over the office, the day room and the kitchen. One bonus: Your guys won't have to cook today."

 _Just?_ Hank thought. "Glad to hear that. But, Chief, we do have paperwork and procedures we need to go through," he said out loud.

"Oh, Hank, you can take the paperwork to the desk in the dorm for the day," McConnike responded with a laugh, patting Hank on the shoulder.

Hank nodded, then remembered the one member of Station 51 "stationed" permanently in the kitchen.

"Sir, about Henry…." he began.

McConnike laughed. "Oh, I let them know Henry keeps a permanent place on the couch."

Hank nodded again. Well, at least the hound would be taken care of. Then, he had another concern.

"Chief, what about C-Shift?" Hank asked. _Hookraider must LOVE this,_ he thought wryly.

"They were sent home a bit early. Hookraider wasn't happy."

 _I'll bet._ "Chief, do the elections people have –uh - facilities they can use?"

"They're bringing in portables."

Hank nodded.

"Well, Hank, I'm gonna head back to the office. Call me if there are any problems," said McConnike cheerfully.

 _Problems? What problems could there possibly be?_ thought Hank as he went inside.


	2. Chapter 2

Forty-five minutes later, five young men had successfully negotiated their way through the confusion to face their captain in the engine bay.

"Good morning, Gentlemen," Hank greeted them. "As you can see, Station 51 is pulling double duty today as an election precinct. By the way, the pollworkers are going to give us lunch."

"All right!" exclaimed Johnny Gage.

"Oh, no," remarked Chet Kelly.

Chet got looks from his captain and four confused colleagues. "What's wrong, Kelly?" Hank asked.

"Oh, nothing Cap," Chet assured him. "I was just worried C-Shift hadn't cleaned things out – you know."

"Uh …huh," replied Hank with a still-confused nod. "Don't worry, Kelly. McConnike said everything was taken care of.

"Now, because of the election work, we're going to postpone the hose drill to next shift. We-"

Hank was interrupted by a young, red-haired woman coming into the engine bay. "Excuse me, ma'am? Can I help you?"

"Uh, I'm working with the Elections people and I'm looking for the bathroom?" the woman replied.

"Well, we were told you were supposed to have portable bathrooms," Hank replied.

"I know. They haven't come yet," the woman responded.

Hank sighed. _Just great._ "Ma'am, it's back there, past the dorms," he said.

Six sets of eyes followed her past Big Red into the dorm area – one pair more than the rest.

"Roy, did you see her?" Johnny whispered.

"Yeah, I saw her." Roy De Soto responded.

"We all saw her, John," interrupted Hank. "Now, if you put your eyes back in your head, we can continue."

"Uh, sure, Cap," stammered Johnny, with another stolen glance towards the dorms.

"Cap-" Mike Stoker broke in. "Are inspections or hydrant checks possible today?"

Hank understood the engineer's silent message: _Anything to get away from this._

"Sorry, Mike. Inspections require paperwork, and-"

"Yeah." Mike nodded glumly. _Paperwork's in the office. I can't even take a good look at Big Red here with all these people going in and out,_ he thought.

"Well-" Hank began, before being interrupted by the tones.

"Squad 51. Difficult breathing at the school, Webster and 23rd." Sam Lanier's voice broke through. "Webster and 23rd. Time out, 8:10."

Hank went to respond. "Squad 51, KMG 365."

Some surprised voters waiting outside looked over, then out as Johnny and Roy left with sirens blaring.

E!E!E! E!E!E! E!E!E! E!E!E!

"OK, Chet. What did you do in the kitchen that's got you so bugged?"

After his outburst, Chet had been uncharacteristically silent, but Marco Lopez knew his friend would eventually let him know what was going on.

"It was The Phantom, Marc."


	3. Chapter 3

Marco rolled his eyes at the mention of Chet's prank-playing alter ego. "OK. What did The Phantom do?"

"Well, you know Gage was originally scheduled to cook today."

"Yeah." Marco had a downbeat tone at the prospect. "I hope the elections people have something better."

"A gulag would have something better than Gage," Chet replied. "Anyway, the Phantom stuck a water bomb in the utensil drawer."

"Chet, you'd better tell Cap."

"Aw, come on, Marco. Why do I want to open myself up for latrine duty?"

"Because one of those elections volunteers could open that drawer."

"Yeah." Chet and Marco walked to the door and looked at the line of voters and the volunteers moving about. "How am I gonna get in there?"

Marco thought a moment. "How about Henry?"

"Henry?" Chet reflected on his friend's suggestion and slapped him on the shoulder. "Marco, you're a genius."

Chet walked over to the day room door. He was met by a man in shirtsleeves and tie. "Can I help you, Sir?" the man asked.

"Oh, I just-" Chet began, but was drowned out by the tones.

"Engine 51. Trash fire at Alameda and Wardlow. Alameda and Wardlow, time out, 8:30."

All the man got was an annoyed groan from Chet as the firemen headed for Big Red.

E!E!E! E!E!E! E!E!E! E!E!E!

"I didn't know it was possible to have an allergic reaction to an aquarium, Roy. That's all I'm sayin'," Johnny said as Roy pulled into the station.

"Well, if Dr. Brackett can get bitten by a catfish, then anything is possible," Roy said. "I'm just glad the kid is going to be OK. I just hope he can stay in the class with the aquarium."

"Yeah," Johnny agreed, but he was no longer listening to Roy. His attention was drawn first by the line of voters outside the building, then by his search for the red-haired volunteer inside the day room. He got out of the squad and walked over to the day room door.

For once, the man in the shirtsleeves was gone. Johnny poked his head inside the day room and watched the line of voters being led to the covered booths. He smiled as he watched a couple of young children sitting on the couch, patting Henry. The hound didn't seem to mind his new role as babysitter.

"Hi!"

Johnny looked up so quickly that he bumped his head in the doorjamb. He looked around. There, in front of him, was the red-haired volunteer. "Oh, Hi!" he answered back, resisting the temptation to rub his head.

"I'm Sandi Hall. I work with the Elections Department."

"John Gage. I'm a paramedic."

Sandi nodded. "Tough job," she observed.

"Yeah, it can be," Johnny agreed. "Yours?"

"Well, it can be, too," Sandi said. "Not like yours, though. We try not to walk through burning buildings." She smiled.

 _Nice smile,_ Johnny observed. "So you're not a volunteer?" he asked.

"Oh, no. I work in demographics tracing," she said. "That's tracing the voters in their particular neighborhoods. I move around in this job, and today, I came to Carson."

Johnny put on his best grin. "Glad you did," he said.

"Are you interested in demographics in your job?" she asked.

The grin left his face and was replaced by a puzzled look. "Huh? Demographics? Uh, yeah. We serve lots of people."

"Well, so do we," Sandi said. "Let me tell you about it…."

She did, for the next 10 minutes – without a break.

Her statistics – and Johnny's confusion at them - were interrupted by the return of the engine company. Johnny looked over at Big Red, then back at Sandi. "Well, back to work," he said, pasting on what he hoped was a reluctant smile.

"Guess so. Good to meet you!" Sandi said.

Johnny closed the door to the day room – the man in the shirtsleeves must have been on a coffee break or something – and turned to meet his crewmates.

"Everything OK?" he asked Hank.

Hank was about to answer when they all heard a scream from the kitchen.


	4. Chapter 4

Five members of Station 51 ran in, followed a few seconds later by Roy, who had been in the dorm.

They were met by the sight of a gray-haired woman holding her hands in front of her mouth in shock, looking down at a kitchen drawer.

Johnny was the first to walk forward. "Are you all right, Ma'am?"

"It was…It was…It came out!" exclaimed the woman, pointing at the drawer.

Johnny and Roy, who'd gotten the drug box and the pressure cuff, looked her over, didn't notice anything, then looked at the drawer. A wet can on springs poked out.

Johnny, knowing what it was and suspecting that it had been meant for him, briefly closed his eyes and bit his lip. He avoided looking at Chet and turned back to the woman instead. "I think it splashed water on you, but I don't think it did anything else," he said, motioning to Roy. "Come on over to the chair and he'll take your pressure."

Hank glanced around at his men and noticed Chet looking down. By the fireman's downcast expression, the captain knew immediately what had happened and why.

"Kelly, what is this?" he demanded in as soft a tone as he could muster, not wanting the voters and volunteers to hear about the hijinks of Station 51.

Before Chet could answer, the man in shirtsleeves, who had been in the office, returned. "What happened?" he asked.

"Well…Fireman Kelly had been trying something new," Hank began in a tone of mischief. "Want to explain, Fireman Kelly?" he asked, placing sarcastic emphasis on the word "Fireman."

Chet, suddenly nervous, cleared his throat. "Well…you see…we've had some problems with mice here at the station," he said. "And…doing what we do, we try to get away from flammable traps for mice, you know."

Chet didn't see Mike looking up at the ceiling or Marco turning around to avoid laughing. Even Hank raised an eyebrow to keep from bursting out.

The captain dared a glimpse around the room. To his amazement, the voters and volunteers seemed to be buying the story.

Over at the kitchen table, Johnny allowed himself a smile and head shake as he took the woman's pulse, while Roy had to re-take her pressure after hearing Chet's story.

"Anyway, this was an experiment," Chet continued. He looked over at the woman. "I apologize, Ma'am, that it wound up the way it did."

"Oh, well, no harm done," she said. "You meant well."

Now, Johnny couldn't resist, covering a laugh with a cough and running past the refrigerator to the sink try to hide his mirth. Mike and Marco quickly excused themselves and left the room briefly.

Only Roy and Hank managed to keep their cool. Roy carefully kept his eyes on the blood pressure reading. "It's a little high, but that's understandable," he told the woman with a smile.

"Oh, thank you," she said. "My name's Velma Tewksbury. Thank you gentlemen so much."

"Well, you know, Fireman Kelly is going to continue his experiment in quite a different way in our restroom and shower area," Hank said. "Under supervision. Right, Fireman Kelly?"

"Uh, Right Cap."

Hank looked around. "We'll let you get back to work." He put an arm around Chet's shoulders. "Come on, Kelly."

"Yes, Cap," responded Chet meekly, and they left the room.

Getting himself under control, Johnny returned to Velma and Roy. "How are you feeling, Ma'am?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm all right," she said.

"Well, you might want to rest a few minutes before you get back to work," Roy said.

"I will," Velma assured him.

"She'll be all right," said the man in shirtsleeves, and extended his hand to Johnny and Roy, who shook it. "Jim Bourne. I'm the precinct captain. Thank you both so much."

"Sure thing," replied Johnny.

E!

Except for lunch, the Station 51 staff and election volunteers stayed out of each other's way for the next few hours – with the exception of Johnny meeting up with Sandi during lunchtime.

While the two conversed, Roy sat on the footrest of the squad, munched a sandwich and observed. Not for the first time did Roy quietly appreciate his own married status as he watched his paramedic partner go through the usual facial expressions of perplexity and dismay when he conversed with a young woman.

By the time Roy finished his sandwich, Johnny nodded to Sandi and walked back to the squad.

"Any progress?" asked Roy, managing to sound sympathetic.

Johnny shook his head in frustration. "No way. That girl is kooky!"

 _Here we go,_ thought Roy. Out loud, he asked, "How so?"

Johnny leaned against the squad. "Man, Roy, she's obsessed – OBSESSED – with statistics and numbers! Wants to run the election department one day and was talking to me about the different parts of town and how the people measure up."

"Well, we think about statistics when we cover certain communities, things like that," Roy responded.

"I know, but not like this." Johnny looked forlorn. "I mean, her brain is a computer. Usually, that's a good thing, but not here."

"So, no date?" Roy asked.

"Are you kidding? I'd do better dating an adding machine! I mean, it's one thing for a girl to know math, but…."

Continuing to grumble more to himself than Roy, Johnny walked out to the parking lot to shoot some baskets. Roy picked up the apple that was his dessert from the elections people and took a bite, again thanking the fates for Joanne.


	5. Chapter 5

The squad and engine each had a couple of runs throughout the afternoon. When they got back at about 5 p.m., the line of voters was snaking out the office door and up the walkway.

"Guess everyone's getting in at the last minute," Johnny exclaimed.

Roy nodded. "Hope Joanne got to our polling place before this," he said.

Hank interrupted.

"OK, guys, they're providing dinner, too, after the voting is done."

"What time will they be cleared out?" asked Mike, clearly eager to have the full station back. He missed the ability to seek solitude.

"Well, the ballots are supposed to be picked up first," Hank said. "Then, the volunteers should be cleared out by 10 o'clock."

At the groans, he put up his hands. "Remember, they've been working hard all day, too," he said. The groans turned to grunts of agreement and acknowledgement.

"Guess we can go get some fresh air outside," Hank said. They all turned to head to the back of the station when they heard a crash and a "Help!" from inside the day room.

For the second time that day, they all ran in. This time, they saw a man on the ground, supported by a woman.

Fearfully, the woman looked up at the 51 crew. "I think he's having a heart attack," she said.

Hank went to call it in while Chet, Marco and Mike got the equipment out of the squad and Johnny and Roy went over to the man.

"How are you doing, Sir?" Johnny asked. By now, the engine crew had caught up with oxygen, defibrillator, drug box and biophone.

"Not…so…good," said the man, struggling to breathe. "I didn't even get to vote."

Roy looked at the woman and realized she was an election volunteer by the identification she wore. "What happened?" he asked.

"Well, he was about to pull out his registration card, but clutched his chest and fell to the ground," she said.

"What's your name, Sir?" Johnny asked.

"Claude Lewis."

"Well, Claude, I'm Johnny Gage and this is Roy DeSoto." Johnny undid Claude's shirt and tie. "This is Mike Stoker here with some oxygen, which is going to make you feel better. And we're also going to hook you up when we talk to the hospital."

As Mike turned on the oxygen and began to put the mask over Claude's mouth, he asked, "I don't suppose…I'll get to vote?" Mike finally got the mask in place.

Johnny chuckled. "Guess these good volunteers will see what they can do about that." He began to attach the sensors from the defibrillator to Claude's chest.

Roy, meanwhile, turned on the Biophone. "Rampart, this is Squad 51."

"Go ahead, 51," replied Dr. Kelly Brackett.

"Rampart, we have a male patient, approximate age 55, who fell to the floor. Suspect heart trouble," Roy said. "We have him on 10 liters of oxygen. We're patching him through. This will be Lead 2."

At Rampart, Brackett took a look at the readings. "He's throwing PVCs, 51," the doctor said. "Does he have a history of heart trouble?"

"How's your heart been, Claude?" Johnny asked.

Mike lifted the mask long enough for them to hear an answer: "A…heart attack…about a year ago," Claude rasped. "I-"

Falling unconscious, he didn't get to finish. The monitor showed ventricular fibrillation. "V-Fib!" Johnny called.

Hank took the Biophone from Roy, who went to push the button to 400 watt seconds. He counted to four and called "CLEAR!"

Mike stopped providing oxygen and Johnny provided the shock.

In a corner of the room, unnoticed by anyone from Station 51, a group of voters waiting in line almost jumped themselves. Many put their hands over their mouths in shock and fear.

"No conversion," Roy said, and relayed that to Rampart.

"51, inject 2 amps of sodium bicarb and hit him again," Brackett responded.

Johnny complied, and took a breath of his own – one of relief. "Sinus rhythm," he sighed.

Other sighs of relief followed from the volunteers and other voters – again unnoticed by the 51 crew.

From outside came the sounds of an ambulance. "Cap, I think we'd both better go in with him," Roy said.

"Yeah, Roy. Kel – uh, Lopez, you take the squad," Hank corrected. He still wanted to keep an eye on his prank-happy lineman.

After Roy, Johnny and Marco had left with their patient, Mike turned to exit the day room. "Uh…Sir?" he heard.

Mike turned to meet a middle-aged man in a grey suit. "Yes?" he asked.

"My name's Aaron Cowley. I'm a voter in this district." The man thought a moment. "You know, I've never thought much about the people and the things we vote for. I read the newspaper, watch the television news and discussion programs, make the best choices I can."

Mike nodded without saying anything.

"But today, from all of you firemen, I've seen…well, the reason we should vote. Our votes at work, really," Cowley said.

He reached out his hand, which Mike shook.

"May I ask your name?" Cowley requested.

"Mike Stoker."

"I want to thank all of you for the work you do, Mr. Stoker," Cowley said. "Next time there's something on the ballot to help the firemen, I'm gonna vote for it."

Mike swallowed a lump in his throat. "Thank you, Mr. Cowley."

Cowley shook his head. "No, Mr. Stoker. Thank you."


	6. Conclusion

After word came back that Claude would recover, other thank-yous came later from the election volunteers, both verbally and through a nice dinner of lasagna that had been delivered.

"Our tax dollars at work?" Roy wondered.

"If they are, they're getting their money's worth," replied Johnny through a mouthful of lasagna. "And you know what else they did-"

"John, swallow first, then tell us," Hank interrupted.

"Uh, sure. Sorry, Cap," replied Johnny, still with some food in his mouth. He swallowed, then proceeded. "Someone from the elections office took a ballot to Rampart. Claude actually got to vote!"

"That's good," said Hank, nodding. He looked at Roy. "Was Joanne able to get to the polling place?"

"Oh, yeah. She decided to go in the morning – less of a crowd," Roy replied.

The Station 51 crew ate quietly for a while. "I got a nice thank-you from a voter," said Mike suddenly, and told them about his conversation with Mr. Cowley.

"Wow," Johnny exclaimed.

"Gives kind of a different perspective," responded Hank, with a meaningful look at Mike. The engineer understood the silent message from his captain and blushed as he nodded.

Hank looked at his watch. "I'm sure the election returns are coming in. Anyone want to turn on the TV?"

Johnny grinned. "Well, Cap, we know at least one result," he said, looking at Chet.

"What's that, John?"

"We know Chet Kelly could convince a roomful of voters that he was building a better mousetrap!"

As his crewmates burst out laughing, Chet put his head in his hands and shook his head. The other member of Station 51 who didn't laugh – Henry – commiserated by lumbering over to sit in Chet's lap.

"Funny, Gage," Chet sighed. "Funny."

THE END


End file.
